Across the country, workers are being exposed to dangerous hazards before they are given the information, training, or protections they need to stay safe.
National COSH is reviving a national commitment to the Right to Know: the basic principle that workers have a right to know what they are being exposed to, how it can harm them, and what employers must do to prevent illness, injury, and death.
Why Right to Know Matters Now
New and emerging workplace hazards are showing up in industries across the country, often impacting immigrant workers, low-wage workers, temporary workers, young workers, and workers with the least power to speak up.
Too often, workers learn about these dangers only after they or their coworkers become sick.
That is unacceptable. National COSH is working with COSH groups, worker centers, unions, health experts, and frontline workers to identify urgent hazards, share worker-centered information, and support local action.
Featured Hazard: Silica Dust and Engineered Stone
Workers who cut, grind, polish, or install engineered stone countertops can be exposed to deadly silica dust. This dust can cause silicosis, a serious and often fatal lung disease. Some workers have developed severe illness in their 30s. Others have needed lung transplants. These illnesses are preventable.
National COSH’s new bilingual worker alert, Silica Dust Can Kill, was created to help workers and organizations understand the risks, recognize warning signs, and demand safer conditions.
What Workers Have a Right to Know
Workers have a right to know:
- What hazards are present on the job
- How those hazards can affect their health
- What protections employers are required to provide
- How to report unsafe conditions
- How to speak up without retaliation
Workers Deserve Information Before They Get Sick
The Right to Know is about more than information. It is about power.
When workers know the hazards, they can demand safer conditions. When communities understand the risks, they can organize. When employers are held accountable, illnesses and deaths can be prevented.
National COSH is committed to helping workers and communities identify emerging dangers and take action before more lives are harmed.